TennTucky Blackberry Cobbler with Bourbon-Butterscotch Sauce

 DId y’all see this recipe for TennTucky Blackberry Cobbler in the July 2012 issue of Southern Living? 

TennTucky Blackberry Cobbler southern living july 2012

Did you try it? I did. Wanna know how it was? Phenomenal!

I made the cobbler and dressed it up just like in the photo…{courtesy of Southern Living Magazine}

TennTucky Blackberry Cobbler southern living

layering it with vanilla ice cream and Butterscotch-Bourbon Sauce. It was DE-LISH!

When I saw this recipe in the July issue of Southern LIving, I knew I had to try it! My boys LOVE to eat fresh blackberries so I had a bunch in the fridge. {It wasn’t quite 6 cups though, so I added some frozen mixed berries I had in the freezer.}

Start by mixing 3 Tbsp cornstarch and 1/2 cup sugar in a medium bowl.

Add 6 cups berries to the cornstarch mixture

and toss to coat.

Spoon into a lightly greased 11- x 7-inch baking dish.

Beat 1/2 cup softened butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Gradually add remaining 1 cup sugar, beating well.

Add 2 eggs, one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Set aside.

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour and 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder in a medium bowl.

In a separate bowl, stir together 8 oz. sour cream and 1/2 tsp. baking soda.

Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with sour cream mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Your batter will be thick, kind of like cookie dough.

Spoon batter over berry mixture.

 Bake at 350° for 45 minutes. If necessary, shield loosely with aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning, and bake 20 or until a wooden pick inserted in center of cake topping comes out clean.

For the sauce: Cook 1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar and 1/2 cup butter in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly, 3 to 4 minutes or until butter melts and mixture is smooth.

Gradually stir in 3/4 cup whipping cream. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.

 Boil and continue to stir constantly for 3 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in 3 Tbsp. bourbon. 

Now to assemble the dessert.

Layer cobbler, vanilla ice cream and Butterscotch-Bourbon Sauce.

Repeat layers.

Alright, Southern LIving’s picture is much better than mine. But mine tasted just as good!

TennTucky Blackberry Cobbler southern living

You gotta go try this one!
You can find the original recipes here:
TennTucky Blackberry Cobbler
Butterscotch-Bourbon Sauce 

 

Georgia Peach Trifle Recipe

Peaches, my second favorite (the first being tomatoes) summer fruit. The original recipe for Georgia Peach Trifle came from an old (2004) issue of Southern Living Magazine. I’ve had it forever, but this is the first time I’ve tried it and it was yummy! I did make a few adjustments however. This version is with my adjustments. Here it is, Georgia Peach Trifle, made with South Carolina peaches!

Southern Living Georgia Peach TrifleWe are fortunate to have a well-known peach farm smack dab in the middle of our town! And we eat lots of Springs Farm peaches all summer!

Obviously Georgia Peach Trifle calls for peaches. Here are the other ingredients.

Georgia peach trifle ingredients1 (3 1/2-ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix, 2 cups cold milk, 6 large fresh peaches, (peeled and sliced), 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1/3 cup bourbon, 1 small loaf pound cake, 1 cup whipping cream, 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Mix the pudding and 2 cups milk according to package directions. Cover and chill for 5 minutes.

Toss peaches with sugar and bourbon.

Cut pound cake into 1-inch cubes.

Place half of pound cake in bottom of trifle dish.
**Here is where I changed the recipe based on my experience making it the first time. The original tells you to drizzle the bourbon over the cake. However, I found it hard to drizzle such a small amount evenly over all the cake so I ended up adding a little more and it was too strong. It’s not that I don’t like the flavor of bourbon, I actually really like bourbon. But it was a little strong for this dessert. So instead I thought to just mix with the peaches and sugar mentioned above.**

Georgia peach trifle

Top with half of peaches.

Georgia peach trifle

Then half of pudding.

Georgia peach trifle

Repeat layers using remaining ingredients.
Cover and chill for at least two hours.

Georgia peach trifle

Beat whipping cream until foamy. Gradually add powdered sugar and beat until soft peaks form.

Spread over trifle and top with toasted almonds.

Southern Living Georgia Peach Trifle

Enjoy! It’s delish!

Adapted from Southern Living Magazine.

Strawberries & Cream Pie Recipe

strawberries and cream pie{photo source}
The boys and I went to pick strawberries again the other day but the fields were closed. Apparently they’ve had so many people come to pick that they’ve had to close the fields during the week to allow the plants to replenish the fruit. So this year picking is only on the weekends. Guess my hometown’s best kept secret has gotten out!
Even though we didn’t get to pick berries, we didn’t leave empty-handed. We took home a gallon of juicy ripe strawberries!
fresh cut strawberriesLast time we picked I shared a couple of my favorite strawberry recipes with you. I also shared a new recipe I found on Pinterest that I was going to try. Well, I tried it and I liked it! No, I take that back. I didn’t just like it, I LOVED it! I loved it so much that I made it again! So much that I’m going to share it with you! Ladies and gentlemen. . .
Strawberries and Cream Pie
{Adapted from the recipe found at Just Putzing Around the Kitchen.}
First you need a graham cracker crust. You can make your own or, if you’re in a rush, just use a store-bought crust. This recipe makes a lot of filling so if you use store bought, you will probably have to leave some out.
crush graham food processor
If you’er making your own, you can crush your graham crackers in a food processor. The original recipe calls for 9 full crackers, but that didn’t yield enough for my crust to come all the way up the sides of the pie dish last time. So I used about 12 this time.
homemade graham cracker crust
Add a stick of butter to the crushed grahams and mix with a fork. {Note: I added more crackers than the original recipe, therefore I added more butter as well.}
homemade graham cracker crust
Press the crumbs firmly over the bottom and around edges of a pie dish.
homemade graham cracker crust
Bake the pie crust in a 350 oven for 10 minutes to set. Allow to cool before adding filling.
In the meantime, you can start on the filling. Ingredients: 2 – 8 oz. blocks of softened cream cheese, 2 cups + 2 TBSP heaving whipping cream, 2/3 cups sugar, 2 tsp vanilla, 1 cup chocolate chips and about 2 cups cut strawberries.
strawberries cream pie ingredients
In a medium bowl, whip 2 cups whipping cream on high until firm peaks form. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until creamy and there are no lumps.
whip cream cheese
Gently fold about a third of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. Continue with the remaining whipped cream just until blended and smooth.
how to fold in whipped cream
Spoon into the pie crust.
cream filling
And gently spread evenly over the crust.
cream filling
Add the cut strawberries to the top of the cream cheese mixture. The original recipe uses much less and arranges them prettily over the top of the cream cheese. I wanted lots of strawberries on mine!
cut strawberries
In the microwave or using a double-boiler, melt 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips plus 1 TBSP of reserved whipping cream. I followed the recipe the first time I made this but decided to use more chocolate this time because it was soooo good on the strawberries!
melt chocolate double boiler
Place melted chocolate in a small Ziplock bag, seal, and cut off the tip. Drizzle the chocolate over the pie.
strawberries and cream pie
Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the center to set.
Oh my gosh, you are going to LOVE this! I’m getting hungry just looking at the picture.
{BTW, I didn’t get a photo of the sliced pie. I got too excited to eat it an forgot. So I’m borrowing this one from here.}
strawberries and cream pie
Strawberries and Cream Pie
12 full graham crackers, crushed
1 stick of butter
2 – 8 oz. blocks of softened cream cheese
2 cups + 2 TBSP heaving whipping cream
2/3 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups fresh cut strawberries
  • Prepare crust by combining graham crackers and butter. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
  • In the meantime, beat heavy whipping on high speed until firm peaks form. In a separate bowl, mix cream cheese, vanilla and sugar until smooth and creamy. Gently fold in 1/3 of whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. Fold in remaining whipped cream just until blended and smooth.
  • Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly into the cooled pie crust. Add strawberries to the top.
  • In a double boiler, melt chocolate chips and reserved 2 TBSP whipping cream until smooth. Place melted chocolate in a small plastic bag and cut off the tip. Drizzle chocolate over the strawberries.
  • Refrigerate for at least one hour to set.

Chocolate Brownie Trifle Recipe

This is one of my hubby’s favorite desserts! I found it years ago on Allrecipes.com. It is really yummy and definitely a crowd pleaser. Even better? It’s so easy to make!
These are your ingredients. A box of brownie mix, a can of sweetened condensed milk, one small box of instant chocolate pudding, a lot of Cool Whip {20-oz}, and toffee chips.

Mix and bake the brownies according to the package instructions.
Let the brownies cool and cut them into one-inch pieces.
Mix the pudding, sweetened condensed milk and 1/2 cup water in a bowl until smooth.
Fold in the small container {8-oz} of whipped topping unti no streaks remain.

In a trifle bowl, layer half the brownies, pudding mixture and 6-oz of whipped topping.
Repeat the layers.

 Top with 1/2 cup chocolate toffee chips. Really you can use whatever you want. The original recipe calls for chocolate candybar shavings. I really like the addition of the toffee though. Chopped peanut butter cups would be great, so would chopped chocolate mint candies.
Cover and refrigerate for 6-8 hours. 

Enjoy!
This really is a great dish to take to holiday gatherings or parties. It can be made the day before and it travels really well.

{original from Allrecipes.com}

Ingredients

  • 1 (19.8 ounce) package brownie mix
  • 1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
  • 1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
  • 1 (1.5 ounce) bar chocolate candy, toffee chips, or other candy pieces

Directions

  1. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions and cool completely. Cut into 1 inch squares.
  2. In a large bowl, combine pudding mix, water and sweetened condensed milk. Mix until smooth, then fold in 8 ounces whipped topping until no streaks remain.
  3. In a trifle bowl or glass serving dish, place half of the brownies, half of the pudding mixture and half of the 12 ounce container of whipped topping. Repeat layers. Shave chocolate onto top layer for garnish. Refrigerate 8 hours before serving.
Oh yeah! I have to pick a new winner of the Fish Foam window cleaner since I never heard from the original winner. 
Jen said…
I am so like you! With 3 kids and a husband, I have totally gotten over my dirty window complex. Mine are always dirty, it’s inevitable! I have an adjacent dining room and living room with big picture windows on each side. 3 kids, big windows…..need I say more, lol!
Jen, please, please email me to claim your prize! You’re gonna love this stuff! jen at scissorsandspatulas dot com


Apple Brown Betty Recipe

Okay, I know I promised this recipe last week after our apple picking adventure. So sorry!  Here she is, Apple Brown Betty.
And she is as good as she looks! Ready for the recipe? I found Apple Brown Betty in my September 2011 edition of Southern Living Magazine. 

Ingredients: 4 large tart apples, fresh soft breadcrumbs, browns sugar, cinnamon, melted butter and apple cider. The original recipe calls for Granny Smith apples. I used what we got from Sky Top,  Pink Lady and Gold Rush, which are other varieties of tart apples. Pink Lady are my favorite! They were small so I used 6.

Peel the apples and cut into 1/4-inch slices.

Mix 1 cup brown sugar and 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon in a small bowl.
Mix 4 cups breadcrumbs and 1/3 cup melted butter in another bowl.

In a greased baking dish, layer half of apple slices, 1/2 of brown sugar mixture and half of bread crumb mixture. 
Repeat the layers with the remaining apples, brown sugar mixture and bread crumb mixture.

Pour 1 cup apple cider over the top.

Bake in a 350* oven for 55 minutes to one hour.

Your whole house will be smelling fabulous as this bakes! 
Serve with a dollop of fresh whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. 
Yum!
Recipe {courtesy of MyRecipes.com}
Ingredients

  • 4 cups soft, fresh breadcrumbs
  • 1/3 cup butter, melted
  • 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick wedges
  • 1 cup apple cider

Preparation

  • 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Stir together breadcrumbs and melted butter. Stir together brown sugar and cinnamon.
  • 2. Place half of apple wedges in a lightly greased 11- x 7-inch baking dish; sprinkle apples with half of brown sugar mixture and half of breadcrumb mixture. Repeat procedure with remaining apples, brown sugar mixture, and breadcrumb mixture. Pour apple cider over top.
  • 3. Bake at 350° for 55 minutes to 1 hour or until browned and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.


Blueberry Delight Recipe

Another reason I love summer? Fresh blueberries! So much better than those sour ones you get when they aren’t in season.
Are you ready for the BEST blueberry dessert recipe ever? 
This is Blueberry Delight. It’s a recipe my mom has been making for years. I have no idea where she got it, but it’s so easy and so good!
These are the ingredients: 1 pint fresh or frozen blueberries*, 1 (15.5 oz) can crushed pineapple, 1 box butter recipe cake mix (I don’t use the entire box, just about 3/4, that’s my preference), 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup chopped pecans, 1 stick of  butter, cut up.
*I add raspberries sometimes also. Either way is yummy!
Assembly is easy. Layer the ingredients in the pan.
1. Berries
2. Crushed Pineapple
3. Butter Recipe Cake Mix
4. Brown Sugar
5. Chopped Pecans
6. Chunks of Butter

 Bake in a 350* oven for 35 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Heavenly!

Peach-a-Berry Pie

In April I told you how much we love to having strawberry fields in the town where we live. Well, once strawberry season is over, we are just as lucky to have Springs Farm peaches picked fresh from the trees, right here in our town. Several roads in our town are lined with peach trees that yield beautiful pink blooms to look at each spring and juicy peaches to eat each summer. It’s one of my favorite things about this little town {that is turning big}. 

So here is my first box of peaches this season. One of my favorite recipes to make with the peaches is Peach-a-Berry Pie. I found this recipe last summer over at Allrecipes.com. 
The thing about this pie is that there are numerous combos you could use. The original recipe calls for raspberries but I’ve used blueberries, strawberries and mixed berries and all have turned out fantastic! You can make this in the winter with frozen peaches, but it’s not quite the same as a pie made with fresh SC peaches!
Start by washing, peeling and slicing 6-8 ripe peaches {about 4 cups}. Place peaches and 1 cup of berries in a colander to drain any excess juice for about 15 minutes. Again, any type of berry is fine. For raspberries or blackberries I do prefer to use frozen only because you are sure to get the perfect flavor. Not too sweet, not too sour.
Transfer fruit to a large bowl. And toss with 3/4 cup sugar, 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour and 1 tsp. cinnamon. 
 Line the pie pan with the bottom crust. {I do NOT make my own crust. I use Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts which you can find in the refrigerator case at the grocer. Hello, easy button!}
Transfer fruit mixture to pie crust and dot with 2 Tbsp softened, cut butter.

Lay the second crust on top. Seal the edges by folding under and use pinching technique to crimp the edge of the crust. 

Cut slits in the top of the pie to allow the steam to escape.
Bake at 400* for about 45 minutes, just until edges are browned.

Serve warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Recipe (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

  • 4 cups fresh peaches – peeled, pitted and sliced
  • 1 cup fresh raspberries
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 (9 inch) pie crusts
  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened and cut into pieces
  • 1 tablespoon coarse granulated sugar

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
  2. Place peaches and berries in a colander for about 15 minutes to drain any excess fluid , then transfer to a large bowl. Gently toss with sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Transfer to a pie crust. Dot with butter, and top with remaining crust. Cut vents in top crust, and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
  3. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until crust is golden brown.

Better Than (Bleep) Cake

Since the weather outside today {and every other day this week so far} looked like this:

And because too much “togetherness” is starting to make us feel like this:

{image borrowed from here}

We decided to make this:

Today {for little one’s ears} we called it “Better Than Anything Cake.” But come on, we all know what it’s really called. Yes, this is Better Than Sex Cake. {GASP, did she just say. . .? Yes, I did} Okay, now that you know how good the cake is, you want to make it, right? 
Ingredients:
box Devil’s Food Cake Mix {plus ingredients required on the box}
14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
12-oz jar caramel ice cream topping
8-oz container frozen whipped topping
chocolate-toffee candy bar (such as Heath or Symphony) or toffee chips

Mix and bake the cake according to package directions.

Watching the mixer do it’s work. No, they aren’t fascinated by the machine. They are waiting patiently because they know they will get this:

Okay, back to the cake.

Cool for 15 minutes. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, poke holes in the cake about 1-inch apart. 

Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the cake, allowing the holes to fill.

 Do the same with the caramel sauce. Place in the refrigerator for several hours. The longer this cake soaks, the better it gets so be sure to prepare it several hours in advance!
 If you decide to use a candy bar for the topping, chop it up into small pieces.

 Just before serving, spread the whipped topping evenly over the cake.

 Sprinkle candy bar pieces or toffee chips over the whipped topping.

Now cut yourself a nice big piece and enjoy!
It made us feel better today!
Be sure to keep this cake refrigerated! 

Better Than Pumpkin Pie

 Pumpkin Cheesecake
YUMMY!

Next year I want you to forget about the traditional pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. Break away from tradition and try this pumpkin cheesecake. It’s to die for! Trust me, your family might even ask you to make it a new tradition! 
First, the crust. . .

After viewing several recipes and reading many reviews, I decided to make my crust from the ingredients above. Graham cracker crumbs, ginger snaps, pecans, and butter. Adjust measurements to your taste. I used more graham cracker crumbs  than cookies. I also decided to add about 2 Tbsp of sugar after tasting the mixture.
Place ginger snaps and pecans in food processor and process until finely ground so that it looks like the photo below.
Using a fork, combine graham cracker crumbs, cookie and nut mixture, melted butter and sugar.

Transfer to springform pan. Press firmly into the bottom, and about 1 inch up the sides of the pan.
That’s it! 
Now, the cheesecake. . .
Here are the ingredients.  Be sure your cream cheese has been sitting out for at least an hour to get nice and soft!
Beat softened cream cheese until creamy, about 3 minutes. PLEASE make sure your cream cheese is soft or your cheesecake will be lumpy. Also, learn from my mistake, use the whisk attachment for standing mixers to beat the cream cheese.

Add pumpkin, sugar, eggs, sour cream and spices and mix just until blended. Add flour and vanilla and continue to mix until well blended, stopping to scrape sides and bottom.

Pour batter into prepared crust. As you can see, mine is a little lumpy. I think this could have been prevented if had I used the wire whisk attachment. My cream cheese was definitely softened.

Bake in a 350 degree oven in or above a water bath. My springform pan would not fit into my water bath pan so I placed it underneath. This is supposed to prevent the cheesecake from cracking due to temperature changes during cooking and cooling.

Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes. Turn off oven and open oven door, leaving cheesecake on rack while oven cools then place pan on cooling rack. Once the cake is completely cooled, remove outer edge of pan. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce.

YUMMY!

  I combined a couple different recipes to make my own crust. The recipe is below. For the filling I followed Paula Deen’s Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe
Note: I did not follow this recipes directions for baking the cheesecake. After reading reviews I chose to bake using the water bath.

Graham/Ginger Snap Crust
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
10-12 ginger snap cookies
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 stick melted butter
1-2 Tbsp sugar
In a food processor, process ginger snaps and until finely ground. In a bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs, cookie and nut crumbs, butter, and sugar with a fork until combined. Transfer to springform pan. Press into the bottom, and about 1 inch up the sides of the pan.